A deal had been struck with the Iceland international for him to return to Swansea - where he had spent the latter half of last season on loan - but when Rodgers moved to Anfield that move hit the rocks. The Reds then appeared to be in pole position because of the player's relationship with the manager, but the 22-year-old joined Spurs.

Rodgers, who revealed Sigurdsson was asking for more money than he had agreed at Swansea, said: "Liverpool would have provided Gylfi with a wonderful opportunity to perform with a manager that he knows and at a club which is a real footballing institution. But he's decided to go to Tottenham, for whatever reason."

He added: "I wish him the best, he's a good kid and there's no ill feeling. We've got other targets and we'll move on."

Rodgers is now looking at other targets to bring in this summer but wants players who will fit in with his way of working and the club itself and dovetail with the current squad.

"I'm going to take time to have a look at that. I believe there's one or two areas that I'll need to improve on for sure but overall the core of the group is strong. But like any manager, you want to add the other pieces that can complete your jigsaw and that's something that we're doing over a period of time.

"This window for the summer, you either had to get your business in early or it was going to run over towards the end of the window, just purely because of all the games and holidays and championships and everything that was going on.

"We're doing a lot of work off the field in terms of potential players to come in, but it will only be a certain type of player that will fit the model here at Liverpool."